Out came a straight thrust of the spike; Elbryan turned his hips and skittered back. The ranger leaped ahead and launched a vicious sidelong swipe as the heavy, awkward spike retracted. He connected solidly on the side of the giant's head, knocking the helm away, the behemoth staggering a long stride to the side.
"The next will not be so blocked!" the ranger promised.
The giant was not without a trick of its own, though. It came at Elbryan, but shifted as Tempest came up to parry, as Elbryan's feet turned defensively sideways, allowing the ranger to retreat back or to either side. The giant plunged the spear down low instead, right into the boulder, and Elbryan was too surprised to seize the momentary opening and charge ahead.
He had to leap away instead, far out to the side, crashing through twigs and saplings, for the boulder superheated, turned red, and then melted away right below him!
The ranger was dazed but knew that he had to keep moving as this pile of molten stone rolled down, igniting small, smokey fires among the twigs.
In the sudden glow, Elbryan saw more forms moving about the perimeter, giant forms, and between the reinforcements and that terrible glowing spike, the ranger knew that he and his friends were overmatched.
Avelyn fell deeper into the stone, felt its energy building to a critical mass. Lodestone was highly magnetic; its enchantment would send it fast to a metal surface. Impossibly fast, faster than a crossbow bolt.
The monk fell back, nearly toppling, as the stone suddenly zipped away, flying unerringly for the armored chest of the giant closest behind Bradwarden. It hit with a tremendous, thump, jerking the behemoth from the ground, and then, to Avelyn's amazement, for he had never really used magnetite before, the second giant in line shuddered violently as well.
Bradwarden had forced the helm off the fallen giant by then, his cudgel turning the monster's head to mush before it could rise up. The centaur heard the commotion close behind and turned to see both giants slumping to the ground, the closest showing a neatly blasted hole right through its breastplate, right through its chest, right through its back.
"Oh, good shot!" Bradwarden congratulated Avelyn.
The monk was already running toward Bradwarden, toward the fallen giants, thinking to retrieve the stone. But then there were other giants, all about, huge shadowy forms blurring the otherwise straight line of the perimeter.
"On me back!" the centaur cried.
"My stone!"
"No time!"
"Everyone out!" came a call, Elbryan's voice. "Avelyn with Bradwarden! Myself with Pony! Paulson with Chipmunk!" If the two are still with us! he added silently. "Out and away, to a direction of your own choosing!"
Pony could hardly believe what she was hearing, what she was seeing. They had come so far together, and now they were being forced into an impromptu, hardly organized retreat. She waited for her turning giant to align itself properly, then scrambled back between its legs once more. Again there came that nasty crackle of energy, and this time, the giant's muscles betrayed it, tensing with the current, and the brute tumbled down.
Pony had no time to stop and take advantage of the situation, though, as she scrambled for the center of the encampment, for Avelyn and Bradwarden, hoping against hope that they might all link together once more.
She saw the monk lying across the centaur's back, Bradwarden's powerful legs pounding away up the north face of the bowl, the same direction from which the first giants had come. They made the lip and went over, and almost immediately after, all the sky lit up with the bright flames of a tremendous fireball.
Pony fell back, all the battle stopped for a moment, and when she caught her breath, the woman was satisfied to hear the receding hoofbeats. Avelyn and Bradwarden, at least, had gotten away.
But how might she and Elbryan? Pony had to wonder as she skittered down the rocky slope, a pair of giants in fast pursuit. Purely on instinct, the woman dove ahead, over the giant Bradwarden had killed. She felt a rush of wind and heard a crash behind her, a giant club smashing against armor.
Still she scrambled, expecting to be buried at any moment, expecting her life to end with a sudden, burning explosion.
Over the next giant she went, trying to regain her footing. But she tripped and stumbled, falling atop the third dead behemoth, her hand tearing against a jagged edge in the monster's breastplate then slipping into the gore of its torn guts.
There was fighting right behind her! She turned and saw Elbryan darting about the giant pair, Tempest working furiously. But he could not win! Even if he beat these two, others were coming fast, including the one with the glowing spike!
Pony's hand instinctively clutched onto something hard and she retracted it to find the stone Avelyn had used. She stared at it curiously for just a moment, trying to discern its energy.
"Run!" came Elbryan's cry.
Pony looked to the fight as she rose, saw Elbryan, Hawkwing in one hand, Tempest in the other, jump out of the path of a fast descending club, then leap back suddenly as a sword swished across. Pony cried out, thinking her love cut in half, but Elbryan had been quick enough to dodge out of harm's way.
He planted his feet as he landed and rushed straight ahead, screaming wildly, his sword flow glowing a furious bluish-white, snapping to and fro, darting straight ahead, sparking as it banged against unyielding armor.
But the ranger's tactic worked, the sudden rush forcing the giants into a short retreat, forcing them off balance. One went down over a fallen body, reaching out as it fell to grab its companion. Another short hop and attack by Elbryan had that one tumbling, too, both landing in a tangled heap.
The ranger had no intention of jumping atop them, not with other giants bearing in. He turned and ran as Pony ran, catching up to Pony as they scrambled together up the north slope, following the trail of their friends. Over the lip, they saw the effects of Avelyn's fireball, small fires here and there, the largest being the one still burning atop the curled and blackened corpse of yet another giant. Down the pair ran through the heat and the smoke, stumbling, but using each other for support. They heard the roars behind them, knew that to stop was to die.
Into the night, the four survivors went, stumbling blindly, separated, two and two, with a third of their party dead.
CHAPTER 50
Flight
Avelyn lay across the centaur's back, staring more behind than ahead, praying for his companions.
Bradwarden, though, would not turn back and would not slow. Determined, purposeful, the centaur pounded along the mountain trails, hooves digging firm holds and propelling him and his all-important passenger mightily. Soon after they had left the encampment, Avelyn had looped the cat's eye about Bradwarden's head, and so the centaur could see in the dark and was not slowed as were the pursuing giants - as were their own companions.
"We must find a defensible spot!" the monk kept shouting.
"We'll not be stopping!" the centaur finally answered and, as if to accentuate that point, Bradwarden lowered his human torso forward and gained speed.
"A defensible spot!" Avelyn insisted. "To await Elbryan and Jilseponie, to bring them in to our side and together ward off the giants!"
"No giant'll be catching us," the centaur assured him. "Nor will Elbryan and Pony, though I lament their loss."
"They are not dead!" the monk insisted.
"No," agreed Bradwarden. "Resourceful, the both o' them. Not dead, but not for catching us, and when ye kill the dactyl, we'll come back out and find them both, I'm not doubting!"
Avelyn, dumbfounded, had no answers. He could hardly believe that Bradwarden would so leave their friends behind, deserting the pair in so perilous a situation. Avelyn came to understand then just how determined the centaur was, just how determined all his companions were, that he was the hope, that he alone might do battle with the dactyl and win. Avelyn believed, and had spoken it openly and often, that it was his destiny to meet with the hellish creature; and so his friends meant to get him there, and if all o
f them perished in the process then, by their thinking at least, so be it.
A great weight fell over the monk as he came to that realization, a responsibility beyond anything Avelyn Desbris had ever known; greater even than his eight-year dedication that had gotten him into St.-Mere-Abelle, to the fulfillment of his dearest mother's lifelong desire; greater even than the task assigned him by the Church, and by God, to go to Pimaninicuit and prepare this latest generation of gemstones. Avelyn had been ready to argue with Bradwarden, to insist, even if it meant dropping from the centaur's back, or using some magic against Bradwarden, that they stop and wait for their friends. But now the sobered monk remained silent and uncomplaining. Bradwarden meant to deliver him, and so Avelyn must be delivered.
Or all the deaths would be for naught.
They came through the pass of the great Barbacan with night still thick about them, having put many miles behind them in a furious rush. Bradwarden, clearly exhausted, would not think of stopping, though he was glad when Avelyn announced that he would walk and not ride for a time.
Overlooking the valley within the mountain ring, the pair were overwhelmed - particularly Bradwarden, who had not viewed the great encampment before. Thousands of campfires dotted the dark plain below them, thousands and thousands.
And beyond the masses loomed a single dark silhouette, a conical mountain tipped by a steady stream of dark smoke.
Aida.
"The dactyl's home," Avelyn whispered to the centaur, and Bradwarden needed no clarification, for both of them were staring squarely at the ominous mountain.
"We can get down and about the camp," Bradwarden said a few moments later, after pausing to inspect the layout. The centaur pointed to the left, to one of the great black arms running down from the lone mountain, nearly to the base of the mountains Bradwarden and Avelyn had just come through. "Though we're looking at a full day o' walking," the centaur finished.
"Out in the daylight near that swarm?" Avelyn asked doubtfully.
"Not a choice," Bradwarden replied. "We'll get behind the mountain arm and hope our enemy hasn't put an army on the other side of it."
Avelyn nodded and silently followed the indomitable centaur, denying his obvious exhaustion.
They were scrambling in the right direction, Elbryan knew, following their friends, though they certainly were not gaining any ground. Every so often, the pair crossed a low spot, a muddy puddle, and Elbryan spotted the deep tracks of Bradwarden. Widespread tracks, he noted hopefully; the centaur was in full run.
That was what Elbryan and Pony wanted. Duty told them that they must follow, but their higher purpose reminded them that all that mattered was the delivery of Avelyn. "Run on, Bradwarden," Elbryan muttered more than once, and always Pony nodded her agreement.
Elbryan was surprised at how easy the mountain trails were to navigate, even in the dark. The Barbacan was an imposing range of tall rocky mountains, capped in snow year-round with many sheer cliffs, some with drops of two or even three thousand feet. But in this particular region, with the trail cutting between two such peaks and thus bringing the climbers nowhere near the top, the going remained steady and fairly easy. The ranger believed that they might see the other side, the slope down to the valley beyond, before the dawn. Avelyn had described the general layout to them all, had told of the valley and of the lone mountain that maps named Aida. In that description, the monk had noted often and hopefully that the barrier mountain range, though tall and ominous, was not wide.
So it was with some hope that Elbryan and Pony ran on, and though they could not possibly match the pace of the galloping centaur, they found many occasions when they could cross over a blocking outcropping of stone that Bradwarden would have had to circumvent. Perhaps with the dawn, they would sight their friends again and would be able to link up.
Even the pursuit seemed left behind, the fumbling giants not keeping pace. Elbryan's one fear, though, was that the behemoths knew the region and thus knew a quicker way.
That fear came to fruition when Elbryan and Pony entered one long narrow pass, a jumble of boulders and scraggly trees sheltered from the strong winds, but, the pair both silently noted, without any obvious escape routes. Halfway along the trail through the gully, an ominous and familiar orange glow appeared - ahead of the pair.
Out stepped the giant, Togul Dek, still wearing no helm, its huge features twisted with rage. Roaring at the two humans - and all the louder when Elbryan banged an arrow off its tremendous breastplate - the behemoth jabbed its glowing spike first into the tree at its left, then in the one at its right, sending both up instantly as towering candles. Between the trees stepped the brute, outlined by fire, not bothered by fire, and Elbryan and Pony noted the dark silhouettes of another pair of giants behind it.
"Take him head-on," the ranger instructed, and he dove to the muddy ground, wrapping his cloak tightly about him. He came up in a dash, to the side and not straight ahead, and Pony, trusting him, charged out from his wake, waving her sword menacingly, drawing the spike wielder's attention.
The giant set its huge feet wide apart and slapped the demon-created spear across its open palm. It paid no heed to the ranger, for it knew he had nowhere to flee, and concentrated instead on the woman, brave and foolish, walking steadily to her doom.
Each step came more difficult to Pony. She heard a commotion far behind and understood that the other giants - probably three or four more, if her count at the previous fight was accurate - had sealed off that end of the gully. Where had Elbryan gone, she wondered, and why? Why hadn't he just put Hawkwing to use, shooting arrow after arrow at the spike wielder's unarmored head until the thing fell over dead? Then they could fight two against two, and try to break out into the night.
Pony shook the confusing possibilities from her thoughts. This was Elbryan, she reminded herself: the Nightbird, the ranger, elven trained.
Even as her resolve began to mount once more, she saw him, running right through the fires, along a low branch on the tree to the giant's right. Flames licked at him, at his soggy muddy cloak, but he scampered along, hurried by the blaze, bearing down on his unsuspecting enemy.
Pony howled and charged, drawing the monster's full attention. She skidded up quickly and loosed a forked bolt of crackling lightning, striking hard the leader and both of the giants behind it.
Then, before Togul Dek had recovered from the lightning, Elbryan was upon the brute, the ranger running full out to the end of the branch, leaping high and hard, sword extended, throwing his arms wide to thrust the smoldering cape behind him. Tempest dove right into the giant's face, while Elbryan's booted feet were planted hard against the behemoth's massive chest.
He had only one quick strike; he had to be perfect. And so it was, mighty Tempest blasting through bone and flesh, diving into the giant's brain.
Togul Dek tried to respond, tried to lift the spike and bring it to bear, but the weapon flew from the suddenly weak hands, drawing a bright line in the dark air. It landed far to the side, upon a stone it fast reduced to flowing, molten lava, rolling down the side of the mountain, taking the spike with it, and that, in turn, melting all subsequent stone, the fiery avalanche gaining momentum.
Elbryan viciously wrenched his blade free, but held his footing as the giant fell backward, the ranger riding the behemoth like some felled tree. The two giants behind their leader did not know what to make of the scene, had not even noticed Elbryan until Togul Dek began that backward fall. And then, it was too late.
Elbryan hit the ground in a graceful forward roll, rushing up and stabbing hard, finding the crease between one giant's huge breastplate and its pelvic armor. Throwing his momentum firmly behind the sword, the ranger drove it in to its hilt, then scrambled past, right between the brutes, drawing Tempest back out as he went. He cut a sudden, sharp turn, diving into yet another roll, this one aimed at the second giant as it swung its club. The weapon swished high of the mark, harmlessly - for Elbryan, at least. The wounded giant, clutching it
s torn guts, bent right into the weapon's path and got clipped across the forehead. It went down hard, groaning, trying to shake the dizziness, growling against the searing pain.
Elbryan got in a fast strike on the still-standing brute, then darted out into the night. He didn't think himself quick enough, though, thought the giant would get in one hit, but then the monster inexplicably dropped its club and howled, grasping at its visor.
Pony ran by, stabbing the standing giant hard in the back of the leg, then rushing out to join Elbryan.
"What did you do to its eyes?" the ranger asked, but Pony had no answer, only shrugged and kept on running.
Pursuit was close and fast, forcing the tired companions to stay at full speed. They came to a wall of stone, climbable, but Elbryan feared the giants would have an easier time than he and Pony, that the brutes would close in and simply pluck them off the wall before they got over.
No other options; the ranger decided, and so he scrambled ahead, hoping to get a firm handhold, that he might propel Pony over him, over the stone, out to freedom in the dark night. He neared the top when he heard Pony, just a few feet below him, cry out in surprise.
Elbryan turned and screamed, seeing a giant reaching for his lover. Pony had no weapon in hand - no weapon that Elbryan saw, at least - though she had her arm extended out toward the giant.
She yelled again, and something flew out from her grasp, rocketed into the giant's visor with a resounding ring, and though the missile did not penetrate the helm, but rather bounced off, it hit with tremendous force, bending and creasing the metal into the giant's face, and the brute fell away. Pony was quick to retrieve the stone, not willing to abandon such a powerful weapon.
Elbryan grabbed Pony by the shoulder and hauled her up, pulling her right past him, then pushing hard until she went over the lip of the ridge. The ranger dug in and scrambled for all his life, and got over the rim just ahead of reaching fingers, a second giant coming in for him.
Demon Wars 01 - The Demon Awakens Page 62
